Graydon Carter Is Maybe Sort of Sniffing Around Elaine's

Today in time-killing speculation: Graydon Carter is or was possibly, maybe interested in taking over Elaine's.

Per the Daily News, Carter, the Vanity Fair/Waverly Inn/Monkey Bar majordomo, and Ken Aretsky, owner of Patroon, apparently made overtures toward Elaine Kaufman, who died last December, about taking over her legendary -- and legendarily exclusive -- restaurant. Although Elaine's manager, Diane Becker, maintains that nothing came of those discussions, which happened two years ago, Aretsky would only tell the Daily News, "I have nothing to say," and Carter was unavailable to say anything.

Although Becker said on Tuesday that Elaine's "was not for sale," it's still tempting to imagine the match made in snob heaven a Carter-Elaine's collaboration would be, a sort of Waverly Inn for the AARP set. And at least one thing is certain: Carter couldn't make the food any worse.

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